Dragon Ball The Mobius Saga
by Thoughtful Tikal
Summary: "Forget about Oolong and the Turtle Hermit." Yamcha shook his head with a disappointed laugh, "It wouldn't matter if Goku wished for the world's biggest buffet! I'd rather see him wish for that instead of you wishing for some new boyfriend. You can't find the Dragon Balls."
1. Chapter 1

It was 6 AM and the daughter of West City's hugest corporation recognized as Capsule Corp, otherwise known as Bulma Briefs, had been awakened by her noisy alarm clock. The reason for this early hour was because she was devising another special invention for her father, Dr. Briefs, and needed as much time as possible.

After getting dressed and eating a delicious breakfast, she finished her timely assignment and took a seat on the living room sofa. Whatever her father's request was sapped the energy right out of her...

_It had been two days since Son Goku reigned as champion in the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament. Fortunately for the young fighter, Master Roshi invited him and his friends to a fancy buffet that was some ways down from the gigantic battle arena._

_The walls inside this Japanese restaurant were red and trimmed with gold linig along the top and bottom while the tables and chairs were crafted from fine polished wood. So fantastic._

_"Yamcha, look at all of this food! I'm not sure what to try first," Puar stated excitedly._

_"Just take your time Puar," Yamcha replied to the cat, "There's enough food on this table to go around for everyone. I'm sure we won't have to worry about Goku taking it all for himself." Yamcha considered the words he'd just stated. Goku was the only guy he knew whose appetite was larger than life itself; figuratively speaking. No one knew where the food that he ate went._

_"All right! Now this is what I call a good meal!" Oolong backed up Puar's words as he held his fork and knife between his stubby fingers._

_Bulma, Krillin, Chi Chi, the Ox King, Master Roshi, Tien, Launch, and Chaotzu were left awestruck by all of these exquisite dishes laid out on the table before them. Meals ranged from Yakitori, White Rice, Fried Rice, Miso Soup, Tonkatsu, Onigiri, and Yakizakana; all ready in extra-large portions._

_"Isn't this just wonderful, Tien?" Launch asked the bald man._

_"Huh?"_

_The sweet, blue-haired Launch kept smiling at Tien as she assumed he heard what she asked him. With the amount of time that this woman stared at him, Tien became fidgety and started blushing. And that was when Launch had to put a handkerchief to her cute button nose._

_"A-a-a-aaaaaaaa..."_

_Everyone grew frantic of what was about to occur after the sneeze came out._

_"... CHOO!"_

_Soon, Launch's berry blue hair changed to blonde and her eyes turned to a mischievous green. Her demeanor became tomboyish and rough. "Whadda' you guys just sittin' there for? Let's eat!" Launch started eating her food without any proof of food etiquette lessons._

_Everyone including Tien sat with agape mouths at this not lady-like misconduct; this was the Launch that would they would always have difficulty becoming acquainted with._

_"Well, you heard her!" joined in Master Roshi, "Everyone can eat now!" this elderly man stabbed his fork into his batch of Yakizakana and started taking wholesome bites._

_As usual, Goku was chowing down at his quick pace, while Chi Chi fussed at him for eating so improperly. "Really, Goku! Slow down or you'll choke!"_

_Chi Chi and the rest of her friends absolutely enjoyed this gift of Master Roshi's, to eat well prepared dishes in one of the world's best traditional restaurants. It was the best way to celebrate Goku's accomplishment._

_"Can I have everyone's attention, please?" Chi Chi clanged her chopsticks against her glass cup. "Now it's been a long time since all of us have come together. I was very excited when Master Roshi invited us to this fancy restaurant and paid for its expenses." Chi Chi looked over at the island elder, who was scratching his head sheepishly and seemed to become embarrassed._

_"Ohh, it was nothin', Chi Chi." Master Roshi then thought to himself, "It was Goku's prize money that helped us get here." _

_While the Ox King was less surprised and more excited, everyone else grew interested. Not one person ever took their eyes off Chi Chi; Goku was the most curious. "What do you wanna say, Chi Chi?" the martial artist asked._

_"Goku! You mean you... don't remember our engagement?"_

_With a shocked expression on her face, Chi Chi stared at Goku as if he had abused her. How could he forget something important like their engagement? Devastated, she rose from her chair and ran out of the restaurant with her face buried in her hands._

_"Chi Chi! Goku rose from his seat and chased after the weeping girl._

_"Chi Chi! Sweetheart!" The Ox King reached out his giant arm pleadingly but never saw his precious daughter run back up to him._

_Bulma found herself obligated to run after Goku and help him work things out with Chi Chi, but Master Roshi warned her to stay put and let the young couple be alone._

_"Don't follow after Goku."_

_With silence already taking over, the last sound to be heard was the closing of the restaurant entrance door._

_Everyone's eyes fell on Bulma, in the sheer hopes that she'd listen to Master Roshi and return to her seat. This toyed with Bulma's emotions; maybe her eavesdropping on Goku and Chi Chi wouldn't change anything, but as their friend, wasn't being concerned for their well beings her obligation?_

_No one felt quite ready to continue eating their food as Goku and Chi Chi's actions disrupted their jovial celebration. This wasn't the special buffet that Master Roshi that had planned in the slightest. The life of its party was gone and it was all because he'd unconsciously upset his proposed fiancée. _

_"I'm terribly sorry for that scene just now, you guys."_

_All pairs of eyes shifted towards the now depressed Ox King. He was taking the blame for his daughter's outburst not feeling the least bit ashamed of doing so. This father could feel a lump forming in his throat as he tried gathering more words to give._

_"What do you mean, Ox King?" Puar asked._

_"Shortly after the tournament host announced Goku's victory, Chi Chi specifically reminded him about their marriage proposal. She was so excited about the idea that she wanted to announce it to everyone at this feast. But I guess it still slipped from Goku's mind since he was so excited about winning this year's Martial Arts Tournament."_

_The room grew silent again, but this time utter bafflement and awestruck emerged. No wonder Chi Chi got mad and rushed out like she did._

_Marriage was a very beautiful tradition; the joining together of one male and female as their souls became one. No one could deny the joyous unification of families that this ancient sacrament brought amidst two desiring lovers._

_Suddenly, a series of laughter bellowed from where Master Roshi's side of the long dinner table was._

_Whoever was causing such a laughter as this, it made everyone feel puzzled. This wasn't exactly the best time to be comical or playful. Chi Chi and Goku were having a crisis right now._

_"What's so funny, Yamcha?" Bulma couldn't take anymore of this goofy nonsense as she crossed her arms and sent the desert bandit a frowning glare. Her irritated reaction alone pierced through Yamcha and forced him to quiet down._

_Bulma noticed that Krillin had been on the verge of making a chuckle, then saw Bulma and immediately helped himself to stay calm. Whatever type of inside joke these boys were having needed to cease, because she wouldn't hesitate to glare at Krillin and set the short martial artist in his right place. _

_"Sorry if I left you all confused like that," Yamcha cleared his throat._

_Bulma was used to Yamcha having his silly moments, but this time it caught her off guard. Everyone actually. _

_"I mean, come on! Goku actually plans on getting married, and didn't bother telling any of us? I never knew the guy had it in him," Yamcha continued bluntly and placed his muscular arms behind his head._

_"I have to agree with Yamcha on that," added Tien, "Goku doesn't seem like the type of man to settle down so quickly. I see him going farther into martial arts."_

_"Well I think the whole thing's a mistake!" began Launch with her usual rough tone, "If he marries that Chi Chi girl, then he won't be able to play with any guns or make a robbery!"_

_"Launch?" Oolong shortened the rough blond's opinion, "That's what you like to do."_

_No one else around the table could disagree with this matter of factually statement._

_"Wanna say some more to my gun, little piggy?" Launch reached for her machine gun and aimed it directly at Oolong's chest._

_"N-n-no, no, no! I-I don't have anything else to say!" Oolong pleaded nervously._

_"Hmph." Launch placed her gun back on her lap and said nothing more from that point on._

_Sighs of relief moved across the room when she finished her words; a restaurant with one of the world's most wanted for dangerous crimes in them was risky, but Launch's friends trusted her._

_"Well, I say we take care of all this delicious food first," Krillin spoke, "Then we can worry about Goku's affair with Chi Chi."_

_Everyone was able to agree with this justified idea._

_"The boy's right. This food cost me every penny," this remark accidentally slipped from Master Roshi's lips._

_"What do you mean it cost you every penny?" Bulma asked suspiciously._

_"Well, my dear Bulma, you see, the truth is..." The pressure and guilt inside his body couldn't stay hidden forever. Master Roshi could feel his body sweating. Now it was his turn to be put on the spot. Once everyone heard the Turtle Hermit's explanation, he was sure that he'd leave this buffet with injuries all over his body. The words that he needed to say were on the edge of his tongue. "Me and Goku went half on this entire buffet. I didn't bring enough cash with me, so the boy agreed to pitch in some of his prize money."_

_"What?" Bulma fumed like a volcano, "So Chi Chi gave you all the credit when it should be Goku also being thanked!"_

_"Sorry, Bulma. Sometimes, things don't work out the way we expect."_

_The Ox King didn't understand why his future son-in-law decide to take this approach. Chi Chi would be upset when she heard about it. It didn't make sense, if Master Roshi wanted to treat everyone to dinner, then he should have gotten more yen on his own rather than ask someone else to put in their earnings._

_Neither Bulma or the others were sure how to deal with this dilemma now. It wasn't their business, but it involved one of their best and most loyal friends. They could look at all of the times that Goku helped each of them and come to admit that it was only fair that they be the same dependable friend to him._

_While listening to this suspenseful discussion, Oolong was busy gnawing on a piece of Tonkatsu._

_"Then it all makes sense." The Ox King started managing to piece his thoughts together, ultimately coming up with a explanation that he wished would sound correct in the end. "Goku took part in paying for us to eat, so now my daughter's going to become angrier with him because his prize money was supposed to go towards their wedding ceremony."_

_"Mmmmm! This really hits the spot," Oolong suddenly introduced a new subject, "Does anyone know what this stuff's made from?" _

_Everyone looked over at the satisfied Oolong in wonder of what dish he was speaking about._

_Rather than give the honest truth and nothing but that, Krillin looked over at Bulma. She was better prepared to deal with an upset Oolong than he was. But throwing the responsiblity of warning Oolong about his food caused Krillin to receive a deep frown that said, "You owe me big time for telling Oolong for you." And Krillin knew Bulma was serious about that._

_"Oolong... you're taking bites of yourself."_

_"What?" Oolong could feel himself become stiff like petrified stone. The shape-shifter was left speechless; his heart almost came to a stop. He stared at his half-bitten pork cutlet while it lay on his plate, then started feeling like he wasn't really experiencing this and it was just a nightmare. "C-c-c-c-c-come a-again, Bulma?"_

_Bulma ignored Oolong instead of replying and she and Krillin watched the devastated pig start intently studying his Tonkatsu. After looking at it for about three minutes, he realized it was pork fell back in his chair, lying on the floor unconscious with his hat laying next to him. For all he knew, he could've been grubbing on one of his fried, distant relatives._

_"Oolong!" Puar rushed to her fellow shape-shifter's side and saw that his eyes resembled "X's". He was unconscious, alright._

_"Oh my!" The Ox King exclaimed fearfully._

_"Oolong, wake up!" Puar clutched Oolong by the cuff of his shirt and started shaking him._

_Twenty minutes passed by as Puar continued shaking Oolong into hopeful consciousness. There were still no signs of her pal's eyelids or body moving, so she or any of the others weren't sure what to think. "He hasn't even moved a muscle yet!" _

_Launch sneezed again and upon noticing the fainted Oolong, she panicked and started getting up to leave. "Oh no! I'll go find a payphone and call an ambulance!" _

_"Launch!" Tien followed suit to make sure that Launch was safe going outside along._

_"Tien, wait for me!" No one expected less from Chaotzu then for him to go after his closest and best friend._

_Surely, this wasn't how Goku and friends' extravagant meal was supposed to end. From Chi Chi's tearful outburst to Oolong's dreadful unconsciousness, this entire day became a disaster. Everyone lost their appetite and told Master Roshi that they would have to let the restaurants waiters come and clean it up._

_"I'm not so sure if I'm hungry anymore." Krillin pushed his plate away from him then looked at Oolong again. Puar was holding him in her arms and close to crying over him._

_"He's never gonna wake up!" Drops of her wet tears drizzled onto Oolong's forehead and rolled down his much pudgy cheeks._

_"Puar. Don't cry," Yamcha got up from his chair and knelt beside the saddened cat to ease her gently. "He'll be alright once Launch calls an ambulance."_

This tragic memory, its aftereffects and what needed to eventually happen brought Bulma to the place that she was in now**. **Goku and Chi Chi were never seen by anyone that much, as they had to prepare for their wedding ceremony and that in itself took just as long as it took her father to build a Gravity Chamber.

Three polite knocks came to Bulma's door. _Knock knock knock_

"Come in!" Bulma looked up from her mattress and saw that it was her father in his usual white lab coat, with his attached black kitty perched on his shoulder. "Oh, hi, Dad. Was that electric-powered remote for the T.V. what you and Mom expected?"

"Yes, it was a huge success, and now your mother's happy that she doesn't need to buy charged batteries from the convenience store anymore," Dr. Briefs gave a light chuckle, "But before I ask you to get into more projects like that, there's something else I would like for you to do for me."

"What is it?" When it came to building devices, Bulma was determined and never hesitant. She would take on any job her father assigned to her.

Dr. Briefs instead pulled out a small red gear that looked oh so brand new as if he'd just purchased it from the hardware store. But it couldn't have been from there. It looked too advanced and they were inventors! Electronic hardware stores couldn't compete with Capsule Corporation, so where had her father obtained this gear from?

"What's that, Dad?"

"This, Bulma, is called Extreme Gear. It carries special properties that allows you to create vehicles that can be powered by air."

"Really?" Bulma got up from her bed with her curiosity piqued and went up to Dr. Briefs to closely inspect this Extreme Gear that he was holding. "How is Extreme Gear able to allow something so resourceful as that?"

"I'm still researching the details, but in the meantime, I need to find out where this is being manufactured and bring more back here so we can experiment and see what kinds of inventions we both come up with. The only information that I'm certain of is that a store carrying Extreme Gear is in a city east of here. Night Chase City."

"Ah... I think I've heard of that place before." Bulma noticed her dad hand her a map that appeared to have directions on how to reach this foreign city. "So, how long should this trip take me?"

"Well, with the vehicles that we have, I'd say maybe a few days."

Bulma was almost overwhelmed, but excited at this task her father was giving her. This was the longest request that he'd made, but at the same time, it made her think... what about all those epic adventures she'd went on back in the good ole' days with Goku? Those were great times! Maybe by help of her father, she would go out to this Night Chase City and get to relive those cherished memories. It wouldn't hurt to try, getting out of the house again would be good for her. "Don't worry, Dad. You can leave it up to me." Bulma gave a thumbs up and smiled at her father.

"That's my girl! Your mother and I will be waiting for your return." Dr. Briefs bid his daughter farewell then left her room.

Bulma's door closed and immediately, the young woman walked to her wardrobe and began putting together a comfortable outfit to wear. While reaching for her sweater, her phone began to ring. She'd set it over on her nightstand, so she stopped what she was doing to go over and take the call. "Hello?"

"Hey it's me, Yamcha."


	2. Chapter 2

Oh, him... usually, Yamcha was out in his desert hideout training with Puar to fight or roaming around on his motorbike.

"If you're not too busy, maybe we could meet up and grab some coffee."

"Uhh, yeah, sure, just give me like twenty minutes, and I should be there."

After both friends ended their call, Yamcha laid his phone on the ground and watched it turn into a puff of smoke. "I'm glad you made it through shape shifting school, Puar," Yamcha congratulated this pal who reappeared inside the smoke once it faded away.

Bulma hesitantly slipped her phone into her pocket and slipped on her sneakers.

According to her father's map, and given the speed that Capsule Corporation's vehicles could ride, Since it would take her until nightfall to approach Night Chase City. Bulma wasn't planning on seeing Yamcha, especially since her father had put her up to a new task. Just what did Yamcha want?

Before heading downtown, Bulma folded her dad's map and stashed it inside her other pocket and slipped on her wristwatch. All of her food and water was packed inside of a green backpack, so now she was fully settled and ready to go.

Yamcha with Puar floating beside him sat patiently for Bulma's arrival. He wasn't sure why him and his sidekick chose this outdoor coffee shop. They didn't even like drinking this black stuff! Out in the desert where they lived, there was clear fresh water, and sometimes sweet milk when they went to different farms and ransacked the innocent farmers for it. That was the way they survived.

With the twenty minutes he waited, Yamcha could have used his time to order a second coffee if he wanted to, but he hadn't even touched this first one sitting idly in front of him now. Ugh! Soon, he raised his eyebrow as he spotted Bulma approaching them and began making sure that his hair was okay. It wasn't long anymore, so he still ruffled it up a little and that should've been what helped it to make him look tougher.

"Hey, you two," Bulma sat down across from Yamcha.

"Hi, Bulma!" Puar replied with an upbeat tone.

"So, what did you want to meet me here for, Yamcha?"

"Well, I was thinking about what happened at the Dream Land amusement park." Yamcha obviously was nervous to bring this past event up, but it couldn't be put away forever. "You had good reasons to be mad with me, so I wanna apologize and ask if maybe we could start over."

Now everything about meeting here for coffee made sense. But in a way that surprised and irritated Bulma. Had she just prepared her ride for Night Chase City earlier, then she wouldn't have to be here to deal with the past that she tried so hard to move on from.

"So that's why you called me here."

Yamcha was afraid of this response. In the end, his plan failed, just like he feared it would. His idea of cheering up Bulma with rekindled affection was a mistake.

"I understand what you're trying to do, but I've moved on. I can't stay around while other girls still chase after you."

"You've got it all wrong." Now Yamcha was upset but didn't express his emotions wildly. His fists were clenching up and he started losing focus of staying calm about this situation. "I'm not worried about those other girls. What happened back there at Dream Land was a big misunderstanding!"

"You can't really expect me to look back at that and make up with you now." Bulma couldn't help but look down at Yamcha's untouched coffee. It just sat there, smooth and dark. "I've already made my mind up about what I want to do when it comes to dating and relationships."

"What's that?" Yamcha almost leaned over the table just to get one word of his ex-girlfriend's explanation.

"I'm going to find the Dragon Balls and wish for a new boyfriend."

If Yamcha had touched this coffee of his, then he probably would've choked on it or spat it in Bulma's pretty face from how appalled she'd left him now, Puar possibly being the one who would be so embarrassed that she would look for napkins and clean the mess up. But no... now coffee was the last of Yamcha's wants on his list. "What?"

Bulma could see how shocked she left her ex-boyfriend. But she wasn't afraid. This selfish young woman crossed her arms as she had more to say. "Oh, does that shock you? Well I knew you would at least be surprised about the idea."

"Bulma, you've lost it! Out of all the adventures we've been on together, I never thought I'd see the day that you would decide to get the Dragon Balls and make such a stupid wish."

"That isn't a stupid wish! Anything's better than seeing Master Roshi or Oolong wish for the world's greatest women's underwear! At least my wish makes more sense."

"Forget about Oolong and the Turtle Hermit." Yamcha shook his head with a disappointed laugh. "It wouldn't matter if Goku wished for the world's biggest buffet! I'd rather see him wish for that instead of you wishing for some new boyfriend. You can't find the Dragon Balls."

"And why not?"

"Because, you're just the brains of the group! Without someone like Goku or Krillin to back you up, it won't be the same."

By now, Bulma had heard enough of Yamcha's statements. He'd crossed the line now by devaluing her. She stood up and slammed her hands on the table, alarming those who were sitting around them to be cautious or get up and leave. "That is not true! I would be just fine looking for the Dragon Balls on my own! Without me and the Dragon Ball Radar, none of us would be able to find the Dragon Balls, so before you go criticizing me, try acknowledging that first!"

"Yeah, so what if you had your technology to help us then? Without martial arts, you won't be able to find the Dragon Balls alone! You need us!"

Bulma growled and brushed past Yamcha to continue towards her destination. She didn't have time for this. He didn't think so though.

"Yamcha, please, let's not keep fighting like this..." Puar tried to calm down the desert bandit, who in the end ignored her.

"Bulma!"

Bulma heard Yamcha's footsteps and kept walking anyway. She wouldn't stick around to deal with this.

"Stop and just listen, Bulma!" Yamcha stepped in front of Bulma and kept her from moving on.

"No! I want to keep walking, so get out of my way!" Bulma's reason for walking off wasn't only to release herself from Yamcha's drama, but also to find an sizable area to launch her tiny capsule, which was called DynoCap. This one in particular carried the number "115" as its label. She'd easily walked around his arm and he didn't try to pursue her after that.

Both he and a reappearing Puar watched their blue-haired friend continue alone down the street, feeling terrible for inviting her to coffee and wishing that they could have another chance to set things right with her. Or at least for Yamcha's sake.

Once Bulma found a park, she stepped onto the grass and reached for her backpack, then she unzipped it to grab her DynoCap and activate it. It wouldn't do her any good to stay here in West City when now Yamcha had decided to go on and upset her. The nerve of that guy! He was foolish to go and say all those things about how she was incapable of finding the Dragon Balls on her own. Well she would prove him wrong.

The button on her DynoCap was pressed and tossed towards the ground, to explode into gray smoke and eventually reveal a green plane with the same number, "115" painted on its side. Bulma pulled its door open with some slight force and made her way into the pilot's seat. "Alright, let's do this." She flipped different switches on the control panel that turned on the ignition and the plane slowly ascended from the ground. Wind began to pick up while leaves on their trees started swaying.

Bulma rose her vehicle into the air until she stopped high above the trees and instantly streaks of orange fire blazed from the jet engines. With a given boost of acceleration, she sped away from the park and quickly towards the place her father sent her to be.

* * *

Obviously, she arrived in Night Chase City when the sky was dark and the roads and buildings glared with different neon colors. This place was nothing but retro and futuristic.

Bulma landed on the grass beside the futuristic road and unlatched her seatbelt to get out of her plane. Her feet touched the grass and she became intrigued by the surroundings that she was taking in. All around the inventor was tall silver buildings with neon blue streaking down their middle, bright directional road signs at every corner, lit-up television screens, roads with grass patches dividing the intersections, and the twinkling sky. True... tonight, it was the darkest of all ebony, but its stars were so spread out and came in such a large supply that she couldn't really see any spots of black. Beautiful. If only Goku, and maybe her other friends had accompanied her, then they could gaze at this glittering sky together.

"Alright..." Bulma began looking around for a store that might've looked like it carried the item she was looking for. She started pacing along the roads, staring at each and every part of this new place as she continued along. Just thinking about how much silence was amidst made the young woman grow scared. No one else was seen besides her out on these empty roads. What time was it?

Bulma decided to check the time on her watch; it was only 9 PM. "Where is everybody?" This hour of the night wasn't late.

All of a sudden, Bulma felt something ram into the back of her legs and knock her to the ground. "Ow!" She got up and learned that some small brat knocked her down and was running from police cars, probably for breaking into someone's home or staying up past curfew. "Watch where you're going, brat! Huh?" Bulma started forgetting about the kid as she noticed something yellow and round on the ground. It looked to be another piece of that Extreme Gear her father mentioned about earlier. Quickly, as police sirens still rang through her ears, she retrieved the Extreme Gear from the ground and shoved it in her backpack, then ran off. "What's wrong with this city? Children shouldn't be out late when its dark, and since when is 9 o' clock the new curfew?" Bulma continued down the road while thinking about this.

She ceased her thoughts when she heard a pair of footsteps come from behind her. Honestly, Bulma was afraid to turn around. She'd already been pushed down by that kid, so there was no telling what else this mysterious city held in store for her next. To the adventurer's surprise, it was a male green and pale yellow robot with a head cap, orange spheres built on his stomach, and clear blue lenses for eyes. The light in his pupils looked dim, and its movement was strangely slow.

Bulma could only stand with bulged eyes at this amazing creation as she watched it move. Once the robot approached her, his systems fully shut off and it fell towards the ground. She had to act fast to catch him and he was quite heavy for her to carry.

Coming out of his Extreme Gear Shop and landing towards a human girl was the last thing the green robot remembered before his system's battery ran out. He was so confident in his personal mission but now it reached his end, the same way all robots whose systems crashed or suffered from energy depletion experienced. Though this mechanized person suddenly felt his vision senses recovering. Everything started out hazy, but then something unbelievable appeared; there he was, inside a cryogenic pod tinted green because of the pod's fluids, located inside the backroom of his business building that carried tan walls and a hard wooden floor. But the surprises didn't stop there.

Through this glass confinement he was placed in, the robot could see that same girl standing in front of him. She looked worried, almost confused in a way. Why?

Soon, the robot watched her press a switch to release him from this cryogenic pod. Once the pod's flap automatically shut itself, the robot turned its now lit eyes up at its unexpected savior. Thanks to her, he felt completely refreshed as his systems were re-charged to maximum power. "Were you the human life form who re-charged my system battery?"

"Yes," Bulma answered with a brave tone, "I figured you had some way of recharging yourself, so I found this cyrogenic pod. "What are you?"

"I am E-10000G, creation and servant of Doctor Eggman. Why has a human like you come into this city?"

Dr. Eggman... wait! Bulma heard this name before. Her father told her about Dr. Eggman. "Well, I just wanted to see if you had anymore Extreme Gear in stock, but from what I can tell, it doesn't look like there's anything left."

"With Night Chase City's crime rate increased, there is no more Extreme Gear in stock."

Bulma thought deeply about what was just said; it was no wonder that Dr. Eggman's Extreme Gear was being taken off the shelves. People wanted it so bad, and would do anything to get their hands on it instead of paying its high prices. Now Bulma realized that getting Extreme Gear for her father would be harder than she thought it'd be. But then where would the adventure be if there weren't any challenges?

"How did all of this happen?"

"24 hours ago, one of my associates was working the shift at this store. Three thieves broke in and snatched all of the Extreme Gear lying on our shelves. We outnumbered them, but they struck each of us down. We warned Doctor Eggman of this break-in, but the extra forces he's haven't yet located the three thieves yet. Now we've asked the city's police officers for assistance, but they don't want to get involved."

Bulma made sure to let all of these details simmer in her mind and boil. She would be ready to capture thieves if it meant saving this store and getting her share of the Extreme Gear. Her adventure would begin! "Then, I guess that leaves us with no choice but to find those thieves ourselves."

"You guys might need some help with that."

Bulma and E-10000 spun around to find a blue animal with lively green eyes looking at them. Bulma gasped at this first time of seeing this type of anthropomorphic being; she didn't think anything like a hedgehog existed, but only creatures like Oolong, Puar, and Master Roshi's turtle.

"Sonic The Hedgehog," E-10000 said with his emotionless voice, "Are you proposing that you assist us in this crisis? You are Doctor Eggman's arch-nemesis."

"What?" Bulma let this thought slip out. Eggman's enemy...

"You're right about that, but I can't stand injustice, even if it does involve Eggman." Sonic wagged his finger to get his point across, then that was when he noticed Bulma. When had she gotten here? "What's your deal here?"

"Umm... I'm just here to buy some Extreme Gear." By now, Bulma felt like this adventure of hers was moving way too fast for her own pace. "Anyways, who are you supposed to be? I've never seen anyone like you before."

"You've never heard of me?" Sonic cracked a grin as he looked up at this new human.

"No," Bulma crossed her arms, as if annoyed by Sonic's arrogant attitude, "You're as new to me as this city is. Just what are you?"

"I'm Sonic the Hedgehog."

Already, things would hopefully now get off to a great start.

After coming back from the Martial Arts Tournament, Bulma's father had asked her to fly to this place called Night Chase City and look for something called Extreme Gear. Thanks to E-10000, she'd learned that a triplet of thieves came and ransacked the Extreme Gear Store, and that the manufacturer of such the high quality product was the Robotnik Corporation, the company ran by none other than Dr. Eggman. From what Bulma learned about her father, Dr. Eggman was an intelligent scientist who shared the same IQ as him and also created technology to sell for much profit. But since when did he have an arch-nemesis? Bulma wasn't made aware of that part. That was where this blue hedgehog, Sonic came in.


	3. Chapter 3

While back outside walking through Night Chase City, Bulma decided that she wanted to learn more about him. And after listening to the life he led and the different... adventures that took him to where he was, she was all the more interested. Goku would be ecstatic about this hedgehog. Besides that though, Bulma became certain that with Sonic to help her find those three thieves and get the stolen Extreme Gear back, nothing could go wrong.

"So, Sonic, since you're always on the run, then I'm sure you know a thing or two about Extreme Gear." Bulma led the way back to her plane for Sonic to follow her.

"Know it? I rode it!" Sonic went on to narrate the story of the EX Grand Prix that Dr. Eggman held in this city. Sonic and his other friends entered it obviously to find out what the mad scientist was up to, coming to find out that he needed someone to unlock and find the secret Babylon Treasure for him.

"Whatever happened to those other three racers you met?"

"Beats me. It's been months since my friends and I saw them. Now we're cool."

Bulma had heard enough from this chosen discussion. "Do you think your friend Tails could show me how to work with Extreme Gear?"

"Yeah, sure. But why?"

"Well, to customize it of course." Bulma took a bit of offense to Sonic's question. "I'm Bulma Briefs, the daughter of Dr. Briefs, president and CEO of Capsule Corporation."

Sonic whistled upon hearing this bold and clear statement. "Is that right? Tails told me a few things about that corporation. Your father and Eggman's companies are rivals right now."

"They are?"

"Well, yeah. Wouldn't you be one of the first to get that memo?" Sonic tried waiting for his answer, but the hedgehog started getting worried and wondered what he'd said to make Bulma become bothered all of a sudden. "What's wrong?"

"It all makes sense now... my dad sent me here to get a product of Robotnik Corporation so he could tinker with it and figure out how to out-do Doctor Eggman."

"Well, what're you gonna do about that?" Sonic looked into Bulma's eyes again and this time, saw her take off her backpack, reach inside for something round and yellow, and angrily throw it as far away as possible!

"Take that, Dad!" Bulma watched the Extreme Gear hit the ground then she heaved out a sigh. "Honestly, I never thought my dad would stoop down to something so low like this! Stealing another corporation's information! Since when is Capsule Corporation losing so much profit that we need to steal another corporation's ideas to get our sales percent back up?"

Sonic wanted to say something, but he was clueless. What did he know about technology and corporations? He'd only reflected back on what he overheard the genius Tails say. And now Bulma was so mad. With some found courage, Sonic went over to her. "Hey, I'm sorry if I made you mad by spilling out that secret."

"No, it's fine," Bulma looked back down at Sonic, "I'm glad you told me."

"Then great!" Sonic gave a thumbs up and smiled, "So where to?" He shifted his eyes around to find their destination until they landed on a large plane with three numbers on it. It barely resembled Tails's plane as it had its own unique structure. "We're riding in that?"

"Yeah, how else do you think I was able to come here?"

"Unless we're going somewhere that's in the sky, I'd rather keep my feet on the ground."

"But it'll take longer if we don't use my plane. You expect to just walk?" Bulma asked, putting a hand to her hip.

"Yeah. With my speed, I can get anywhere," a smirk shown on Sonic's face..

"Speed?" Bulma had to repeat this word out loud to get better clarification. Sonic wasn't saying what she thought he meant, was he?

Running a couple of feet away from Bulma and the plane, Sonic performed this at a more rapid pace, leaving behind him a streak of blue.

"N-n-n-no way! Bulma's eyes almost bulged out of her head, and her mouth was left agape as she'd witnessed the fastest thing alive show off his infamous ability. "He moved in less than a second! That's not scientifically possible! How did you do that?"

"There's nothing to it, it's just who I am," Sonic wagged his finger and winked, "That's why they call me Sonic. Because I'm the fastest thing alive."

So that was the given reason; he was literally born with this power to run at the speed of sound. Bulma accepted it and soon her father came to mind. She could imagine how starstruck the older scientist would be to hear about Sonic. She looked down at his shoes and began to wonder just what type of brand they were.

And so, like he'd wanted, Sonic ran along the grassy outskirts of Night Chase City. Bulma accelerated close behind him. She had use more of the jet booster's power to keep up with him. It was insane! She looked over at him and could see that he wasn't being the least bit fatigued. This really was the Fastest Thing Alive, as far as she had seen.

Before actually hopping inside her plane, Bulma decided that she would still save the Robotnik Corporation by retrieving the stolen Extreme Gear, even if it was a company that rivaled her father's; she would still be heroic. And so, to carry out this epic task, she decided to follow Sonic to the place where he said they would arrive at the three thieves hideout.

"Bulma! This is the place!" Sonic hollered loud in the hope that his voice would reach to Bulma through her plane's cockpit.

This new team approached the entrance to a region where river streams ran beside the dirt roads and waterfalls poured out of the rocky red mountains. This land was otherwise known as Red Canyon. The reason that it was named this was because of the mountain's color.

Bulma landed her aerial vehicle beside the lake in front of them, and when getting out of it, she reached inside her backpack to grab a water bottle. Ever since she came to Night Chase City and decided to help Sonic retrieve the stolen Extreme Gear, she forgot how thirsty she was. After opening the cap to her bottle, she tilted her head a bit to sip her water.

Most likely, Sonic was either thirsty or dealing with a grumbling stomach; Bulma made sure to eat her mother's well-prepared dinner before leaving, so she was content but wondered about him. "Sonic, have you eaten anything?"

"Yeah. I had lunch earlier, so I'm okay." Sonic started leading Bulma into the heart of Red Canyon.

To be on the safe side, she reverted her plane back into a DynoCap by pushing a switch underneath its body, then returned it inside her DynoCap box and caught up to Sonic. He seemed to know where he was going, so Bulma would trust in him; it was something about his dauntless body language that she felt.

The road they were walking on turned left since there a lake was up ahead. At this spot, Bulma could get a beautiful glimpse of the full would have been a great night to star-gaze with someone. Anyone but Goku though.

Suddenly, the adventurer stopped her feet as she noticed Sonic perking up his cute blue ears and behaving cautiously.

As if being sent down to Earth from the moon, Bulma saw a black silhouette gliding towards them. As they got closer, Sonic began to make out who they were and murmured a reaction. "Knuckles." He then turned to a curious Bulma and spoke to her. "No need to worry. This person flying towards us is an old friend of mine, Knuckles the Echidna. We go way back."

Bulma was glad to know that they would be safe. She kept her eyes on Knuckles's mysterious purple ones as he landed in front of them. Apparently, he hadn't trusted her as he kept his his seriously fixated on hers too.

"Sonic, who is this person with you?" Knuckles asked suspiciously.

"This is Bulma. She's the daughter of Dr. Briefs of Capsule Corporation."

"What?" Knuckles lost that seriousness in his eyes and was now totally surprised, "Tails told us about that corporation. They're rivals with the Robotnik Corporation."

"Yeah, and apparently I was the last person to get that memo," Bulma looked down at Sonic who'd brought who this whole "memo" concept, "Do you know anything about the thieves who stole Doctor Eggman's Extreme Gear?"

"No, but I have a pretty good idea of who the suspects could be. Sonic, I know you have the same suspicions too."

"Well, you would think I do, but actually, I'm just as clueless as Bulma," Sonic rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"What?" Knuckles became irritated, "Sonic... you mean you really don't have any guesses at who these thieves are?"

"No, Eggman is always a first guess but he's the victim this time. Who do you think is behind all this?"

Knuckles crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "I know who it was. The Babylon Rouges."

"Who are they?" asked Bulma.

"Tails knows more about them. They're a group of thieves who go around stealing treasure and know how to make air boards with Extreme Gear. Sonic, me, and some of our other friends raced them in last year's EX Grand Prix. We all learned that it was just a trap to help Eggman find the Babylon's secret treasure, and after that was all said and done, we parted ways."

"Yeah, so we should still be cool now." Sonic didn't understand what his red friend was saying. "It sounds to me like you're saying Jet and his friends haven't turned over new leaves."

"That is what I'm saying, Sonic. You see how all of us moved on from Extreme Gear racing and went to whatever adventure was next. Well, Jet and his friends are still into that. They're even building their own corporation where it'll carry Extreme Gear and consumers can go to their business instead of buying from Robotnik Corporation."

"What?" Sonic became stunned upon hearing such shocking news like this. He never expected Jet to set a personal goal like this. Since when was the hawk interested in entrepreneurship?

"So they robbed Doctor Eggman's store so that they would have more materials to work with," Bulma summarized Knuckles's point in her own words.

"Right." Knuckles turned his eyes back to Sonic's. "And so that's where I came in, when they came to Angel Island and tried stealing the Master Emerald. Sonic, they're going too far."

"Yeah, I can see what you mean now..." Sonic put a hand to his chin and started thinking. "Well, Bulma, it looks like you got yourself into more an adventure than you'd hoped for. Are you sure you still wanna do this?"

"Yeah. I've experienced dozens of quests like these so many times before," Bulma said with a confident face, "I'm a stronger girl than you might think."

"Heh heh. Alright. Knuckles, there's just one thing I have to ask. How did you find out that Jet and the others are building this corporation?"

"Rouge told me." Knuckles folded his arms in a way that showed he wasn't glad about receiving these details from the treasure hunter, "Eggman's hired her as his undercover spy to find out where this secret corporation's going to be built."

"Well, that doesn't surprise me." Rouge would take on any work for jewels.

After giving this last reply, Sonic looked to where the path that led towards a cave between two waterfalls. "Looks like this is the way." And during the walk, Sonic told Bulma who Rouge was and why it was so likely that the bat would work for Dr. Eggman.

"Is there any way for us to contact her if she finds out anything else?"

"No, but we'll see her sooner or later," Sonic assured Bulma.

When they approached the entrance, the trio saw how dark it was, not a hint of light could be found.

"I can't see a thing in here," Bulma thought of how to remedy this until the image of a DynoCap popped into her head. Of course! Those miniature capsules were resourceful in times such as these! "Wait, I know! Here, guys, we can use my car."

"Huh?"

As Bulma unzipped her backpack, she pulled out the DynoCap and pressed its button down with her thumb. When the DynoCap made contact with the ground, a cloud of gray smoke aroused and faded away to reveal a smart car carrying two seats, tinted orange windows, and the words "TURBO" painted on the right door.

Neither Sonic or Knuckles could believe what they were looking at right now. It actually was a car, but that sounded bizarre, because how could a car fit inside such a tiny capsule?

"W-what-?" gawked Sonic. This hedgehog and Knuckles stared at Bulma's vehicle as if it was the accomplished feat that their generation was waiting so long for. "No way!"

"Impossible! How could a car come from inside something so small?" Knuckles couldn't believe what just happened. It had to be magic.

"Simple," Bulma answered, "What I just tossed on the ground is called a DynoCap. I have plenty more that turn into things when I press the switch and drop them. Here, see for yourself." Dr. Brief's daughter once again dug inside her pack to show her new friends a container holding more capsules with their assigned numbers and description of the purposes they served.

Knuckles and Sonic studied each digit, reading their functions and becoming even more awestruck; for a human girl, Bulma turned out and would be more interesting to them than both hedgehog and echidna figured. Now things would be a lot easier with these DynoCaps present.

"Cool!" Sonic complimented Bulma, "You could use these capsules for almost anything!"

"A house, a submarine, a motorcycle, a boat, you could even have a house if you wanted to."

Just the idea of a house being unleashed from a capsule impressed Sonic, even Knuckles; that's how excellent and crafted these DynoCaps of Bulma's were. Tails would love to learn more about Capsule Corporation if he got a chance to see these capsules and the abilities they had.

"Are one of you going to sit in the passenger's seat?" Bulma motioned to opening her car door and sitting in the driver's seat.

"I'm sure Knuckles would," answered Sonic, tightening the golden buckles on his sneakers.

"You don't have to go answering for me, Sonic," Knuckles snapped at the hedgehog, heading towards Bulma's car then claiming the passenger's seat.

Bulma opened her car's glove compartment to get the key and start the ignition. Then she pushed the gas pedal to start driving at 15 mph. With her car started, the beaming headlights could guide them through the shadowy cave now.

While Bulma drove Knuckles and herself, Sonic simply power-walked in front of them. "Good thinking, Bulma," Sonic gave credit to the driver for her headlights.

"Thanks." Bulma turned her eyes towards the hedgehog for a second then returned them to the road in front of them. So far, nothing in their moving forward changed. No bats or anything else not ordinary appeared.

Some time later, the darkness that once ruled the cave started to disappear. An entrance leading to somewhere with more light became closer with each passing second.

Bulma looked out of her window to talk with Sonic with her hands still on the steering wheel. "So, this is the place you were talking about?"

"Yeah. This place is White Cave."

White Cave was a humongous forest enshrouded in absolute fog, with trees, white spores, and ancient spider webs.

"It looks like there's more fireflies than I remember from the last time we came here," Knuckles looked around the foggy forest as if trying to count each firefly, "Without these fireflies, this forest will get just as dark as that tunnel we passed through."

Still driving, Bulma used this time to gaze at the many luminary insects. Their glow and how they all spread out was beautiful. "Sonic! How close would you say we are to the Babylon Rouges' hideout?"

"Not too much farther away!"

"We're not going the right way." Knuckles knew he would silence and shock everyone with these words of his just now. But they really were going the wrong way. Sonic was absolutely mistaken. "The Babylon Rouge's hideout is in a red blimp."

Bulma became upset and turned to Sonic who seemed taken aback by Knuckles's statements. "Is Knuckles telling the truth, Sonic?"

"I am telling the truth! Why would the Babylon Rouges set up a base in here?"

"Because this is where Tails's radar told me to go. He created a tracking device that lets you locate Extreme Gear."

"Really? That's incredible!" Bulma said in amazement, "And so those radar's exact readings led you here?"

"I never knew you could make a radar that lets you find Extreme Gear," Knuckles said as if verbally defeated, "But Tails is a smart guy. I guess we have no choice but to trust this special radar of his."

"Yeah. Tails has never let us down before," Sonic smiled at Knuckles.

Knowing Goku, this monkey boy would be so excited about meeting a supersonic talking hedgehog and an echidna who's duty it was to guard a jewel of unlimited power. Puar and Oolong would probably wonder if this hedgehog and echidna had also went to Shape-Shifting School. Dr. Briefs would ask to study both creatures and perform experiments on them. Bulma wasn't positive. So much was on her mind now with the Babylon Rogues and investigating their new corporation. Then Yamcha entered her mind again. That free spirit, that broad smile, and that protected feeling; but he wasn't hers anymore.

Bulma didn't have any regrets. She would have her new and more compatible boyfriend once she found all seven Dragon Balls. Though that little side-quest would have to be put on hold...

"According to Tails, this is the way to their hideout," Sonic informed the group as he stared over the cliff they'd found themselves on.

"I have a way for us to get down there," Bulma reached for her backpack as she pushed away her inside thoughts.

Both Knuckles and Sonic knew what this meant; Bulma would pull out another one of those magical capsules. The DynoCap that she planned on using was the same item with the number "115" on it. After its white smoke disappeared, Bulma she climbed inside of the plane's cockpit and watched Sonic and Knuckles find places on the its wings to crouch on.

Its jet boosters' embers didn't blaze that much since Bulma was descending almost carefully and slowly.

It'd only been a day since Sonic accompanied Bulma and Knuckles to help find the Babylon Rogues; he remembered what took place.


	4. Chapter 4

He was with Tails in the fox's workshop. While he opened the fridge in the kitchen to make himself a chili dog, Tails sat on the sofa and turned on his radio and heard a story about missing Extreme Gear. So he called Sonic over and informed the blue hero of the news.

Very eager for adventure, Sonic didn't hesitate to take on and solve this new mystery. Tails wanted to join as his usual sidekick, but Sonic suggested that he stay put in case those same thieves tried invading his workshop and ransacking his mechanical possessions.

And so, with his astounding speed, Sonic arrived at Night Chase City around the same time as Bulma; it hadn't taken him that long to locate the Extreme Gear shop, and when Sonic had discovered it, that was when he bumped into Bulma and the hedgehog and human girl became friends.

Knuckles remembered sitting in front of the Master Emerald as he was taking a peaceful nap. Few clouds covered the moon and created a shadowed effect, allowing its beautiful moonlight to pour down on Knuckles when they drifted away.

The Babylon Rogues had approached him with their fists balled up so he rose from the Master Emerald Shrine and accepted their challenge.

This three-on-one battle had been unfair, but Knuckles understood that being a guardian of treasure like the Master Emerald meant that this was how much sacrifice he'd have to make. So much of a sacrifice since he'd managed to defeat all three of the Babylon Rogues with scratches and bruises decorating his body.

Bulma, Sonic, and Knuckles bumping into each other wasn't planned, but now having learned of each other's motives, they were willing to unite and venture to the Babylon Rogue's hideout to foil their plans, even if it meant aiding the villainous Dr. Eggman. Heroes would stand against any injustice.

These heroes found themselves still hovering on Bulma's plane and not reaching the bottom of White Cave just yet.

Bulma noticed that more fireflies were fluttering in their midst to let their light guide them. Though as her mind was too wrapped up in this, she didn't see a missile that was coming her way.

"Huh? Bulma, watch out for that missile!" Knuckles pointed at the deadly homing weapon.

"Bulma, quick! Get out of the way!" joined in Sonic.

"Huh?" In just the nick of time, Bulma noticed the missle. "Aah!" She swerved her aerial vehicle out of its way, almost making her furry friends slip off but causing the missile to crash into the cliff behind them and explode. The power from this explosion was so massive that it sent Bulma and her allies a long ways forward.

"Woah!" Sonic made sure to clutch on to the plane's wings or else he would fall to White Cave's darker areas below them. The hedgehog looked over to Knuckles and saw that he was pretty shaken up by this sudden fiasco as well. Phew!

The feet of Bulma's plane finally touched the ground and they could see their surroundings thanks to her plane's bright headlights. She, Knuckles, and Sonic hopped off while she motioned to letting herself out of the plane's cockpit.

"Hey!" Knuckles barked at Bulma, "We almost got blown to bits back there, because a certain girl didn't watch where she was going! Didn't you hear us warning you to move out of the way?"

"I'm sorry! You don't have to bite my head off about it! I didn't notice the missile until you guys yelled at me!"

"Well, try to be more careful next time." Knuckles started walking away from Bulma and Sonic to continue the journey to the Babylon Rogue's hideout independently.

"Knuckles, where are you going?" asked Sonic.

"Where do you think? I can't risk teaming up with your friend there when she almost got us killed just now."

Veins popped out of Bulma's hands and face and she formed so many angry remarks to throw at Knuckles, but Sonic kept the adventurer back and assured her that sometimes Knuckles didn't think before he spoke.

"That jerk! He thinks he doesn't need us... well fine, we'll just finish this adventure without him." While once again in her TURBO car, Bulma checked the time on her cellphone and widened her eyes at what it said. It was two o' clock in the morning. "Wow, it's already 2 AM."

"Woah," Sonic responded in amazement, "Talk about a day going by." Sonic then covered his mouth to yawn. "Where are we gonna sleep for the night?"

"Inside my house, of course." Bulma reached for the DynoCap in her backpack that had the number one on it and made it transform into a complete, one bedroom and one bathroom home. "Viola!"

"Oh yeah, another DynoCap." Sonic was led into this special home and took in all of its furnished surroundings. This place had it all!

* * *

After such a long day, Bulma decided to take a bubbly bath while Sonic found himself bored and flipped through one of the magazines that this special home included. Whether he wanted to believe it or not, things felt different without the temperamental Knuckles. The echidna and him became good friends regardless of their longtime rivalry. Sonic knew how upset the Master Emerald Guardian could get, especially over the stupidest things. If he would've stayed with the group, then at least he could've gotten a good meal and warm place to sleep for the night.

Bulma felt comfortable while luxuriating in her bathtub. Her hair was tied into a nice bun, and she rested her head on the edge of the tub. After walking and driving for so long, she was relieved to rest her muscles.

Bulma thought to Knuckles for a moment but then furrowed her brow in annoyance. He'd been a jerk earlier. It was difficult forgetting about that fact as their lives were put to risk with her not seeing the missile in time, but no one was perfect. There'd even been times where Goku made mistakes, and he was a one of the strongest fighters Bulma knew.

Suddenly, a series of knocks came from the door._  
_

"Hey Bulma? There's someone named Oolong here to see you. Says he's an old friend of yours."

"Oolong? What is he doing here?" Bulma thought to herself, "Tell him to wait on the couch!"

"Okay!" Sonic turned to Oolong and extended his hand for a handshake. "Hey! I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, what's your name?"

"My name's Oolong." Oolong returned the handshake, but was perplexed by the way Sonic looked. He definitely had followed Bulma to a different city if he were seeing people who looked like this. "Just what are you supposed to be? You kinda look like a porcupine."

"No, I'm a hedgehog."

Oolong found this conversation as an opportunity to brag. "Well, I might look like a pig right now, but just watch and see what else I can change into!"

Sonic raised his eyebrow and waited for Oolong to show whatever he'd prepared. The shapeshifter stepped away from him then jumped in the air and turned into gray smoke. And after the gray air faded away, Sonic gawked at Oolong's new appearance as he was an exact replica of ... Bulma!

"What do you think, Sonic?"

Sonic almost jumped in fear to hear Oolong's piggish voice come when he carried Bulma's womanly and curved features. By the amazed expression on Sonic's face, he was in fact impressed with Oolong's transformation, but the pig would need more if he planned on out-doing the World's Fastest Hedgehog.

"I think you look like an idiot," came in Bulma's voice.

Sonic and Oolong both looked at Bulma to notice her in a nightgown and matching house slippers.

"And just what are you doing here, Oolong? Were you stalking me?" Bulma continued on with these interrogations.

"No! Yamcha sent me here."

That did it right there. After showing disgust to Oolong's response, Bulma walked off to her house's guest room without so much as a "Good night".

"Bulma?" Sonic grew awfully worried and turned back to Oolong, "Who's Yamcha?"

* * *

This question concerning the desert bandit led Sonic to joining Oolong at the kitchen table as they both partook in cups of hot chocolate. Oolong slurped his while Sonic tried to have more manners.

After placing his drink down, Sonic returned to the topic of Yamcha. "So tell me, Oolong... who's this Yamcha guy that's got Bulma worked up all of a sudden?"

The digital clock sitting on Bulma's dresser read 2:30 AM. Traveling to Night Chase City, Red Canyon, and White Cave all in one day probably had taken up so much time. And yet, with how tired everyone would be in the morning, they wouldn't get the time to sleep in because the matter of Robotnik Corporation and Jet's corporation hung in the balance.

By this time, Oolong explained who Yamcha was, how he got romantically involved with Bulma, and where their relationship stood now.

"Woah... I never imagined Bulma liked guys like that," Sonic said after hearing about Bulma's past.

"Tell me about it. I don't know what she sees in the guy either."

"Why did he send you here then?"

"They met earlier at a coffee shop and got into an argument. Bulma walked off so Yamcha pestered me into keeping a close eye on her. He blackmailed me into this."

Sonic didn't know the details to this supposed blackmailing, but he felt sympathy for Oolong. If this Yamcha dude cared so much, then he should've came down here to see Bulma himself. "Hmm... that's one crazy situation. I'm know sure if I know what to say about that, Oolong."

"You're tellin' me. And how did you meet Bulma by the way?" Oolong changed the subject. He sipped his hot chocolate and listened to Sonic's explanation, spitting what was in his mouth out as the hedgehog left him afraid. "What? You guys are chasin' after thieves? That sounds dangerous!"

"That's the part I like," Sonic replied with a toothed grin. Who was this guy? From what Oolong could tell, he was carefree and liked taking on risky challenges like... like Goku! These two were both crazy!

"You're insane! Bulma needs to get out of here and come back to West City so Yamcha can get off my case about what she's doing and we can forget about all of this crazy thief business."

"But the adventure's just started, we can't give up now. Bulma wants this."

"What?" Oolong sighed and started rubbing his forehead. "Yamcha's gonna have a fit when he hears this!" As Oolong remembered that Tonkatsu he ate some time ago, the pig imagined himself being cooked and served on a plate, just for Yamcha to eat. Yamcha would smile and lick his lips before jabbing his sharp utensil into Oolong and tasting him. "No! I don't wanna be turned into Tonkatsu!"

"Oolong, snap out of it!" Sonic slammed his hands on the table, almost making his and Oolong's cups turn over. He watched the pig slowly regain his composure and take deep breaths. He hadn't wanted to slam his hands on the table like he did, but Oolong acted like he was having a panic-attack.

* * *

As both pig and hedgehog were now going to sleep, Sonic chose to rest on the sofa with a pillow and yellow blanket with a miniature logo of Capsule Corporation sewn on its bottom right corner.

Oolong had his own pillow and blanket on the other couch, but had trouble falling asleep. How could he when this crisis about Bulma chasing after thieves resonated in his mind like one of the mystical Dragon Balls glowing in the dark? It couldn't be dealt with so easily.

After developing a way to escape his waked boredom, Oolong tiptoed across the carpet to Bulma's room. She forgot to close her door, so he slowly pushed it more open and sneaked his way in. His lips curled into a sly grin as he extended his arm towards the dresser and opened it to peek inside at its contents. "Oolong, you've hit the jackpot!"

"Oolong? What are you doing?"

"Huh?"

Sonic watched Oolong quickly turn around with a pair of women's underwear in his grasp, realizing how he might've looked doing this and quickly moving the garment to hide it behind his back.

Oolong was a fool to not suspect that he would get caught. Still, he didn't expect it to happen so soon. What had made this yawning Sonic wake up in the first place?

Sonic wasn't upset, but he did become suspicious as to why Oolong had Bulma's under garments; it was so disturbing. He noticed Oolong becoming uneasy by rubbing the back of his head nervously and fixing to speak. "You wanna tell me why you were in Bulma's room holding her underwear?"

"Shhhhhh, don't talk so loud!" Oolong shoved his hands over Sonic's mouth to silence him. "She might hear you."

"Maybe if you tell me why you came in here, then Bulma doesn't have to wake up at all."

"Fine, I'll tell you."

Sonic nodded and became calm. Generally speaking, this hedgehog was a kind person; as long as Oolong explained himself and promised not to swipe panties anymore, then Sonic wouldn't share this event with Bulma.

"Well, you know some of the things us men like. And one of them is women's panties. Their smooth curves... silky material... and perfect shape... there's too much for me to even continue!" After Oolong finished his speech, he realized his words had taken no effect on his new blue friend. Sonic just stared at him with a disgusted frown. Fancying women's underwear was downright immoral in his book, and Sonic the Hedgehog's life was an open book, but what Oolong tried today was still uncalled for.

"And you didn't understand... well, you'll get the idea sooner or later. One of these days I need to take you to the mall."

"Nah, no thanks. Night, Oolong."

"Good night." Oolong returned to his bed as Sonic flicked the lights out.

* * *

Bulma couldn't wake up to a bright and glorious morning since they'd stayed in a dimly lit cave and no sun rays beamed through the windows, but she still had a good night's rest. The young woman went over to this house's closet to get a blue dress and yellow boots to slip on.

Everything stayed black while Sonic kept trying to sleep. The hedgehog had heard footsteps come from the hallway. Bulma. This girl really had chosen an early time to wake up.

Sonic tried opening his eyes, but they hurt from the loss of sleep, so he closed them again and turned to lay on his other side. Sonic was sure Oolong would deal with the same thing whenever he woke up. That behavior of his from last night still haunted the Blue Blur's mind, as none of his friends were perverted like shapeshifter made stealing women's underwear seem wonderful like someone stumbling upon one of the seven legendary Chaos Emeralds.

Sonic twitched his nose; the smell of delicious, prepared food was coming from somewhere.

Breakfast. It hadn't been just the meaty smell of bacon, but also sweet maple syrup and fresh grape jelly. Whatever it was that was being served for breakfast, Sonic was sure it'd be really great. "Bulma, you're making breakfast?"

"Yeah, I'm just making us some breakfast before we leave out again. Today's going to be a very long day." Bulma flipped the fluffy pancake onto its not cooked side.

Sonic almost liked the sound of her response. Maybe this very long day would be very awesome, and he would be spending it with two of his newly made friends.

Sonic motioned to sit at the table to wait for breakfast as it was almost finished. He laid his gloved hands and started whistling an upbeat tone while he waited. It didn't seem to be bothering anyone, so the free spirited character kept whistling until he saw Bulma set his plate down in front of him.

"Here, you go, Sonic."

"Wow! Thanks!" Sonic's jade-green eyes became stuck to his plate as its strong maple syrup pleased his smelling senses. The bacon looked so crispy and well fried; he was sure that it was calling his name and saying, "Eat me first!" So the hedgehog reached for this strip of crunchy bacon and took a meaningful bite into it.

"Is that your first time ever eating bacon, Sonic?"

"Yeah! And I just have to admit, it's pretty good!"

"Would you like for me to cut your pancake into smaller pieces?" After slicing her own pancake, Bulma looked over at Sonic's and wondered if he wanted his pancakes to be the same way. He told her, "Sure", so she leaned over the table and cut his food like so...

"Well this'll makes things easier." A happy Sonic raised his fork and start poking it into different pancake pieces. Even by the time he finished his whole breakfast and went back towards the couch, Oolong was barely waking up. "Morning, Oolong!"

"Hey, Sonic..."

Drowsy, Oolong's eyes suddenly widened as he smelled something sweet and satisfying to his pig snout. What he smelled seemed to be pancakes, jelly toast, and bacon. "Bulma made us breakfast?"

"Yeah, and you'd better hurry with your plate, because we're leaving soon."

"W-what? But it's only eight in the morning! Why does this adventure have to start so early?" Oolong sighed as he realized his predicament of accompanying Bulma and Sonic was only going to get worse.


	5. Chapter 5

Deep in the heart of White Cave, there was a constructed underground tunnel, which led to a secluded most frigid place known as Ice Factory.

"Brrrrrrrrr!" Wave the Swallow desperately put her hands around herself as she had no sweater and it was so chilly in this Ice Factory. Just why did the heater in here have to be broken?

"Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!" If Wave thought she was freezing, then she wouldn't know much the grey albatross, Storm, felt like he was freezing to death. This bird had much more body fat, so he should've had more heat, but apparently that wasn't true. "W-w-w-w-w-w-wave! W-w-w-w-w-when are you gonna get to fixin' this factory's, h-heater?"

"I'll get to it, Storm!" Wave answered crossly, "I can't repair anything here until Jet comes back with the keys."

"K-k-keys? W-w-w-what keys?" Obviously, Storm had no idea what these special keys were.

His smaller friend became irritated by his lack of listening and told him for the second time that Ice Factory had a series of doors that each needed their own key. "Oh, t-t-t-those keys!" Just as Storm said this, he and Wave both looked up and saw their boss approach them on his Extreme Gear, Type-J."B-b-b-b-boss! Y-you're back, and you got the keys!"

The boss, Jet the Hawk, hopped off his hovering board with a ring of keys between his gloved fingers. The chilling temperature in this room bother surprisingly, wasn't bothering him at all. "Yeah, and now that we have these keys, we can really get things started here in this factory!" Jet tossed his key ring to Wave who was now so grateful and turned on her heel to make her way towards which ever room the broken heater was in.

"Boss, were you ever able to take down Sonic and his friends with our missile?"

"No. Somehow, he's figured out about this secret operation of ours and is coming here to sabotage it. We can't let him do that." Jet clenched a fist and frowned at the possibility of that pesky hedgehog dashing in here.

"T-t-t-t-then how should we make sure that doesn't happen, Boss? S-s-sonic's not alone! He's got those other friends, like that Red Mutt."

That was true. Jet remembered meeting other people besides Sonic. There was that fox kid, Tails, the pink hedgehog girl, Amy, and the echidna that Storm just mentioned, Knuckles.

"S-s-so what's the plan, Boss?" Storm asked again.

"I've got just the plan to take care of them," Jet's beak curled into a sly grin.

Far away from the Babylon Rogues, a white bat could be seen spying on them with her black binoculars. She hadn't thought to bring a coat or jacket herself so she was freezing very bad too. "It's so cold in here! Why would these birds choose this factory to run their corporation in?"

Suddenly, a familiar voice came in from the communicator in the white bat's other hand. So she flew down behind some frosted white oil barrels and took the call.

"Rouge. What else have you found out about Jet and the Babylon Rouge's plans?"

"Well, doc, by the looks of things, they've already gotten the factory keys. When that purple girl gets their heater up in running, that's when they'll get the machines running and soon this whole factory will be filled up with robots building their Extreme Gears."

"Those bird-brains don't know who they're trying to compete with here! You've told me enough, Rouge, come back to my airship, immediately."

"Ah ah ah, not until after I have my jewels. No treasure, no service, that was the rule."

"Fine. I will give you all of the gems and rubies I've promised you. Just hurry back here. Don't let them know you were just there."

This secret conversation between the bat known as Rouge and her client ended, so she got up from her spot and went out of Ice Factory the same way that she came in, through a window.

Having walked the whole way by himself, Knuckles reached the end of White Cave's tunnel and stepped out in the fresh morning sunlight, spotting a large factory in the distance.

* * *

Not being able to finish all his breakfast was bad enough, but now Oolong was heading into the unknown with Bulma and a blue hedgehog who he'd just met yesterday. Talk about surprises!

For the second time, Bulma explained the situation of her adventure to Oolong. Her father sent her to Night Chase City, only for her to learn about the stolen Extreme Gear that he wanted a sample of and also learn about these thieves who call themselves Babylon Rogues, but Oolong still didn't like the way any of it sounded, because technically, this issue was more of Sonic's then hers and she was just putting herself in it because of her father's personal request.

Bulma had been away from West City for one day so far and was already preoccupied with this Extreme Gear business; she was worrying Yamcha, whether she believed it or not. Oolong could feel just how upset the desert bandit would be if she didn't come back soon and how he would begin thinking up what to have as a side dish with his Tonkatsu.

The paranoid pig looked over at Sonic and noticed him holding a conversation with Bulma about traveling. He didn't hear them all that well, and couldn't focus even if he wanted to. He just wished that he could leave this White Cave right now and be back home on Kame Island where everything made more sense.

"Earth to Oolong, are you there?" While Bulma brought forth her same "TURBO" car and got inside its driver's seat, Sonic noticed Oolong's scared expression and was concerned.

"Huh? Oh, sorry!" Oolong apologized, "Where are we going again?"

"To look for the Babylon Rogues," Bulma started her car's ignition.

"You mean to tell me we're really goin' after those thieves? Why can't we leave that to the cops?"

"Because we've got Sonic, Oolong!" Bulma started barking at the hopeless pig, "Really! If you're going to whine the whole time, we can just leave you out here and let you find your way back to Kame Island."

"Uhh, on second thought, I'd rather just stay here with you guys, where it's safe."

"Good. Now get in the passenger's seat and stay quiet."

With the motor still running, Bulma waited for Oolong to get in the passenger's seat and put his seat belt on. Then, she took off at such a speed that almost made him jump out of his skin.

"Bulma! What's the big idea with drivin' this fast?" Soon, Oolong noticed that he and Bulma weren't the only ones moving so rapidly. Sonic was running alongside them with no trouble at all! Just who was this hedgehog?

"Heh heh." Sonic chuckled upon seeing how astonished he left Oolong by his speed. If this shapshifter thought his speed was something, then he hadn't seen anything yet.

In the end, Oolong decided to accompany Bulma and Sonic on their dangerous quest to track down this Babylon Rogues after realizing the trouble he'd put himself in and recalling what Yamcha would do if he came back home without Bulma. Maybe this was for the best.

* * *

As Night Chase City had more appeal during the night because of its neon lights and exciting activities, its kindred, Metal City, was similar but didn't beam and glow with the same bright lights when night fall came.

Floating cars hovered their ways across metallic roads and got to where they needed to go, Mobians with their silver and blue outfits and retro hairstyles walked in and out of different restaurants, malls, parks and many other fun places. Metal City was a popular and active place to live.

Everyone knew about Metal City, which was why a certain pink hedgehog could be seen coming down the road on her Extreme Gear, Pink Rose.

From what Tails told this hedgehog, Sonic was last seen in Night Chase City to investigate a robbery from the Extreme Gear Shop, and so this was one of those golden opportunities that this pink hedgehog had to track him down. "Hmm! Sonic has to be around here somewhere. My intuitive senses are always crystal clear." She looked both ways in hopes of discovering the blue hedgehog, but so far he wasn't in sight. Wait! There was someone else she spotted...

Knuckles looked around as he entered Metal City and started remembering the EX World Grand Prix that he and his friends entered a while back. This place was one of its race tracks, so then where was Ice Factory?

"Knuckles!"

"Huh?" The red echidna looked everywhere until his eyes landed on a female who he hadn't expected to see here. "Amy? What're you doing here? Don't you stay back in Station Square?"

"Yeah, but right now I'm looking for Sonic. Have you seen him anywhere?" Amy heard Knuckles explain that he was also on his way here with a new friend he'd just made from West City. Her name was Bulma Briefs, who was the daughter of Dr. Eggman's rival, Dr. Briefs. "Why is his daughter with him?" Amy asked Knuckles.

"Somehow, she's got dragged into all of this stolen Extreme Gear business because her dad wanted her to buy him Extreme Gear. But if you ask me, she's just getting in Sonic's way."

"That's what it sounds like to me." Amy put on a cute frown as she agreed with Knuckles's ideas. Besides, the matter of Sonic being around another girl bothered Amy. "So she wants to help Sonic stop Jet and the others from whatever plan they're plotting?"

"Yeah, I guess, but it's like I said before." Knuckles didn't need any girl getting in his way, which meant he didn't need someone like Amy wasting his time either, so he moved to turn on his heel to leave.

"Wait, Knuckles!" Amy reached her arm out but he didn't answer, so she got mad. "I hate it when they leave behind!"

* * *

A fair distance behind the street that Amy just crossed, Bulma and Oolong appeared in the same "115" Capsule Plane and landed on a patch of grass while the Its cockpit to exit the vehicle popped open and Bulma came out first, then Oolong followed and also joined Sonic who'd been waiting for them nearby.

Apparently, Tails's Extreme Gear Radar led them past White Cave's tunnel and back outside into the open. Bulma guessed that Sonic read this device incorrectly. He admitted that he wasn't a genius like Tails, so he'd decided to give Bulma the radar and let her hold it.

This new place that they were in looked more lively than Night Chase City. Everything except for the citizens appearances reminded Oolong of West City, as if these two cities were close neighbors. "This place looks just like West City all over again."

"Yeah. But this city looks like it has more fun," Bulma eyed all the chatting teenagers and laughing children from her view.

"Well that's because there's a lot to do here in Metal City," Sonic confirmed as both his companions face him, "Partying, gaming, racing, you name it! This place has it all!"

"Did you say partying?"

Sonic heard this question come from Oolong and was happy to finally see the shapeshifter wearing a genuine smile. "Yep!"

"Well show us where to go because I'm a party animal!"

Sonic gave a helpless chuckle at this remark.

"Oolong, you know we don't have time for that," Bulma stated flatly.

"Aww, stop bein' such a stick in the mud, Bulma. Those thieves aren't goin' anywhere."

Sonic placed a comforting hand on Oolong's shoulder. "Actually, Bulma's right, Oolong. How about I show you around this city after we take care of this Extreme Gear business?"

"Okay..." Oolong replied with his ears drooping comically.

"Heh heh. Come on, don't let it keep you down. We'll be done with all of this in no time!" Sonic flashed a grin and gave a thumbs up.

"We will?" Somehow Sonic's positive attitude lifted Oolong's, making the pig lift his head and smile a bit more. He wanted to believe that they would have some fun after all of this thief nonsense was over and dealt with.

"Yeah!" Sonic looked away from Oolong and gazed at everything in Metal City, "Nothing about this place has changed at all."

"What's the name of this city?" Soon Bulma's question was answered and she could start to feel her stomach grumble. "Well if you know where the closest restaurant is, then that would be great. We haven't eaten since breakfast."

"Well, some of us anyway." Oolong started rubbing his piggish stomach and also wondered where places with food and beverages in this much futuristic region could be. He would've finished all of his breakfast if Bulma hadn't rushed him out of her Capsule House. "Let's go somewhere where they don't serve things like me."

"Heh heh. I'm sure no place here serves anything that's like you," Sonic assured Oolong with a chuckle, "Hm... now that you guys mention food, what I could really go for right now is some chili dogs."


	6. Chapter 6

Goku was on his Flying Nimbus, soaring over the green fields and enjoying the ride with his mind was on Chi Chi. She'd calmed down ever since that day at the restaurant during the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament; for Goku apologized about how he forgot their engagement, and the Ox King was making arrangements for their wedding.

Goku hadn't seen some of his friends that often since he was busy with training even after the last World Martial Arts Tournament. It didn't feel like that much time went by, but Goku sharpened his martial arts skills consistently. Time went by like the Flying Nimbus when you were training and meditating as much as he was.

So, as this spiky-haired fighter was still in deep thought, he happened to notice a girl bat come into view. Whatever this new and unusual creature was, the mystery made him curious.

By now, Rouge was sure to be closer to the spot in the sky where the Final Egg was. She kept flying in the designated direction when she saw a young man coming her way on a magic cloud. What was this?

"I've seen it all now."

Honestly curious, Rouge came to a stop as this spiky-haired guy also approached and stared at her.

"Hi, I'm Goku! What's your name?"

"Me? I'm Rouge the Bat. Could I ask you where you got that little yellow cloud from, big guy?" Rouge listened to Goku explain how the Flying Nimbus was gifted to him by a martial arts hermit named Master Roshi. "Well, it's the first Flying Nimbus I've ever seen. Bye bye."

"Wait, Rouge!"

"What's up?"

"Um, would you happen to know a cat named Puar and a pig named Oolong? You kinda remind me of them because you look like an animal too."

A vein showed on Rouge's forehead as she felt awkward about this innocent, naive, yet offensive comment. Just who was this guy?

Well... not wanting to stick around and find out, the treasure hunter turned back around and flew away.

Goku let out a small sigh. "I only asked if she knew Puar or Oolong." The adventurer shrugged his shoulders and decided to keep going in the same direction from before. Chances were that he would find Night Chase City since he was told that was where people like Rouge came from.

* * *

Some time later, Sonic, Oolong, and Bulma found a malt shop that served foods and drinks that didn't serve Tonkatsu and meals they didn't mind having for lunch. It was the best place to come for a pit stop before they got back on the road again in search of the Babylon Rouge's hideout.

Oolong was happy as he sunk his teeth into his saucy meatball subway sandwich. This was what the pig called good food. At least now he would have a meal that he would get to actually finish.

While Oolong and his companions ate their food and drank their drinks, the malt shop's flat screen TV changed to the news channel and a robotic figure named Omochao appeared. He introduced the crisis of the Extreme Gear Shop burglary and how that would affect Robotnik Corporation and probably other technology corporations elsewhere.

Bulma sipped her milkshake then finished her turkey subway just after Sonic finished his. "This city doesn't know about Jet's plan to form his own corporation and ruin Robotnik Corporation by creating his own type of Extreme Gear. Capsule Corporation could be pulled into this competition and probably lose out on its sales profits also."

"Isn't that what your dad wanted you to help him do to Robotnik Corporation?" Sonic asked after sipping his drink.

"Yeah... I'm beginning to think that maybe I should postpone that plan. Jet's corporation could become stronger and steal our business now that he's trying to put Robotnik Corporation out of business. "Bulma drank her beverage from her straw again then laid her arms across the table.

"Well the sooner we find those Babylon Rouges, the better." Oolong bit into his sandwich then looked over at Sonic. "Just who are these guys anyway?"

"They're people who Tails, Knuckles, and I met here when we were all in Eggman's EX World Grand Prix. They were in it to win the key that would bring back their ancestor's fabled Babylon Garden to find its secret treasure, but I guess now they're all about starting a corporation and selling Extreme Gear themselves."

"Didn't you say that Tails learned about these Babylon Rogues?" Bulma asked Sonic, "That they're descendants of a race that became legendary thanks to their famous advanced technologies? If that's true then that has to be why Jet wants to start his own corporation. Eggman has made thousands of dollars using their materials and blueprints, so feel like they should be the ones getting recognition."

"That's it!" Sonic smiled and gave a thumbs up, "Great thinking there, Bulma. So, Jet wants to sabotage Egghead's company so that Extreme Gear can only be made and sold in his corporation's name."

"I just hope these Babylon Rouges aren't so dangerous ta' watch out for..."

"Oh, Oolong, would you quit being such a scaredy cat?" Bulma fussed at Oolong, "The next time you decide to come on an adventure like this, I'm not letting you tag along." With all of her milkshake gone now, Bulma threw it away along with the plastic her food came in, then she, Oolong, and Sonic left the malt shop to return where she parked her "115" Capsule Plane.

Just as they started pacing, Sonic grew uneasy and made Bulma and Oolong feel concerned. Apparently, the hedgehog saw something that he wasn't expecting to arrive so soon.

"Sonic!" Amy ran towards her blue hero with Pink Rose in her hand. She pulled him into a tight hug and let him go when he had to ask to be released, then she asked who the people behind him were and got her answer.

"This is Bulma and her friend, Oolong. Guys, this is Amy."

"It's nice to meet you, Amy." Bulma reached out to shake Amy's hand, but this hedgehog didn't seem friendly today. Literally.

"Amy, what're you doing here?" Sonic changed the subject.

"To find you, of course! Did you think that you would go on this new quest without me?"

"Well,yeah. It's pretty serious."

"I know that! I've been on my share of adventures before too, you know. What could be different this time?" Amy listened to Sonic explain how this next adventure of theirs involved the Babylon Rouges creating a business corporation and that he wasn't sure what could be involved since their sudden interest in business and entrepreneurship came from out of the blue.

"Now do you see how it's serious, Ames?"

"Yeah! That only gives me more reason to not wanna leave your side." Amy set Pink Rose down then took hold of Sonic's arm and held on to him cutely. There was someone she reminded Bulma of, and she probably had just the same fierce, tomboyish personality. Poor Sonic and poor Goku. "Sonic. Knuckles told me that Bulma will just get in your way while you're trying find Jet."

"Is that what he thinks?" Sonic looked back at Bulma who thankfully hadn't heard this side conversation. Her and Knuckles got off to a pretty bad start back in White Cave when she almost got everyone killed by that random homing missile, but Sonic forgave her. Why did Knuckles have to hold this grudge? "Knuckles is just being a Knucklehead like usual. Bulma's not what you think she is, and same goes for Oolong."

Sonic watched Amy eventually trust his words and apologize to his new friends for not being respectful before, but the pink hedgehog would still keep her eye on Bulma.

"Amy, did you see Knuckles come through this city?" Bulma asked Amy.

"Yeah, but he didn't say where he was going. I think he might be heading towards the factory that the Ex World Grand Prix took place at."

"Ice Factory?" Sonic should've known. "Knuckles didn't say anything about going there."

"He probably didn't want me to know about it," Bulma said with a little frown.

"Uhh... you might be right about that, Bulma, as much as I hate to admit it. That Knuckles is one stubborn echidna."

With her arms folded, an irritated Bulma saw Sonic reveal Tails's special radar and point out which way they needed to go. Ice Factory wasn't so far that they needed to all hop inside her plane again, but instead, they could get there by another, faster means of transportation.

"Heh heh. Coming back here makes me wish I had Blue Star," Sonic thought out loud.

"Well let's go get it then."

"Huh?" Sonic looked at Amy confusedly. He didn't understand how this would work when he didn't have his board with him and it was back at Tails's Workshop somewhere in the fox's garage.

"C'mon! There should be a Extreme Gear shop around here somewhere..." A cheerful Amy led everyone to the first Extreme Gear Store they came across and went inside to see a Chao standing behind the counter.

"Welcome to the gear exchange in Dark World. You can buy the gear with your rings. Which gear do you want to buy?"

"Wow!" Oolong had to admit that he was impressed by what this Dark World store had to offer. The shapeshifter saw boards and vehicles of all colors and all shapes. Just how popular was Extreme Gear that it came with so much variety?

Bulma picked up a broomstick that was on one of this shop's shelves and inspected it closely. For an Extreme Gear, it seemed pretty unusual and different, but nonetheless, it was still based off of an advanced form of transportation created by the Children of Babylon.

As the turquoise-haired woman set it down, she looked back at the Chao behind the counter and saw them handing Sonic an Extreme Gear that was built as a royal blue board with white and yellow streaks. What surprised Bulma the most about this business transactiob was how she saw Sonic exchanhe golden rings with the Chao instead of paper money.

"All right! Now we're talkin'!" Back outside in the clear afternoon, Sonic tossed Blue Star into the air and hopped onto it. Then he started accelerating, just like the good ole' days...

"So this is the Babylonians' advanced technology... how does it get its fuel?" Bulma asked with piqued curiosity.

"It uses air." Amy couldn't take her eyes off Sonic as he looked oh so dreamy and cool doing flips and tricks on Blue Star so amazingly. "Hey Sonic! Why don't we have a little race? Just one lap around this city."

"Hmmmm..." Sonic put finger to his chin as he really considered this offer thrown at him. He wasn't so sure if he wanted to leave Bulma and Oolong hanging while this race between him and Amy went on, and there was the matter of arriving at Ice Factory, but maybe just one race would be okay. "Alright. Bulma. You see that metal bridge up there? You and Oolong go up there and stand on it so you'll be able to watch us race. We'll make it quick, promise."

"Okay!" Bulma and Oolong were very excited to see how this race with Extreme Gears turned out.

...

...

On Omochao's mark, Sonic and Amy both took off in bursts of extraordinary speeds. Neither racer had dealt with Extreme Gear for a while, so they might've been a little rusty during this one lap race.

Sonic was in the lead while Amy was some ways behind him. When Sonic really thought about it, this race of Amy's suggestion didn't feel like a competitive or challenging race at all. She just wanted a chance to spend more time with him. Good grief...

Towards the end of their so-called race, Sonic's grin was revived as he powered up his board to perform this thrilling stunt on a tall ramp that was up ahead. He twirled and flipped to perform tricks like Twisters and Double Mouses.

"Aha!" Amy came right after the Blue Blur by gracefully executing some Mutes and Japans, and before she knew it, their lap was over. "That was like, awesome!"

Both hedgehogs regrouped with Bulma and Oolong in front of the same metal bridge. "What did you and Oolong think, Bulma?" Amy recieved Bulma's impressed answer then turned back to Sonic with a loving gaze. "We should do that again sometime, Sonic."

"Uhh... yeah," Sonic cleared his throat, "So, let's do this! Knuckles is probably at Ice Factory by now."

"Yeah." Bulma noticed Sonic stick his hand out and motion her to get on the back of Blue Star with him. "Huh? Are you asking me to get on Blue Star with you?"

"Yeah. You didn't think we would just walk to Ice Factory, did you? No way! With Blue Star back, this trip will be even faster."

"Well... maybe it would be better if Oolong went with you."

"Me?" Oolong asked with fear, "You're the one he held his hand out to! I'll stick with Pinky here." Oolong motioned to step on Pink Rose with Amy. Though if he hadn't thought to clutch her waist so soon, then maybe he could've avoided a painful whack from her Piko Piko Hammer. "Ow! What was that for?"

"We weren't leaving on our boards yet, you creep!"

"Ames, chill out and put that hammer away." Sonic breathed a sigh then looked back to Bulma. "Alright, Bulma. You can go with Amy and Oolong rides with me."

Now relieved, Bulma went over to Amy while Amy watched an injured Oolong go to Sonic. Bulma liked Sonic as a friend and all, but she was afraid to be with him on his Extreme Gear.

"Hmph!" Amy would set aside her hammer like Sonic asked, but she would keep her eyes on this pig-snout friend of his.

The pink hedgehog took a deep breath and exhaled as Bulma climbed on to Pink Rose and clutch on to her waist when it started moving.

"You don't ride super fast like Sonic on this board, do you?"

"Well yeah! How else will I be able to keep up with him?"

Bulma gulped at the sound of this then looked over at Sonic and noticed Oolong begin to also feel nervous. In the end, it didn't matter whose board she got on, it seemed. If these hedgehogs planned on having another race, then that could be a problem for her and Oolong.

"Ready..." Sonic spread out his arms and feet to be in the perfect riding position. "... go!" And just like that, the hedgehogs took off with such a quickness that Oolong and Bulma almost lost their grips and screamed their head off. They would've much rather wished to watch these Amy and Sonic ride their boards from a distance, but then there would be no way to follow them to Ice Factory and continue on. Well, the sooner they reached their destination, the better...


End file.
